The gum on rural peach trees can be eaten, but it must be clean, especially when the peach trees are sprayed with pesticides many times during their growth. Peach gum may contain a lot of pesticide residues, which will cause physical discomfort if eaten. For food safety, it is suggested that peach gum be soaked in salt water for a period of time, and then washed with clear water.

Processing: The main component of the original peach gum is macromolecular polysaccharide, which is not easily soluble in water, but has good water absorption, and its volume can be foamed more than 10 times. After removing impurities, the original peach gum is hydrolyzed and decolored to become small molecular polysaccharide, which is the commercial peach gum. The purpose of hydrolysis is to change insoluble macromolecular polysaccharide into soluble micromolecule polysaccharide, which is convenient for industrial use.

Commercial peach gum can thicken, emulsify and solidify in food, which is similar to another common gum (Arabic gum). Because Arabic gum needs to be imported and expensive, peach gum is a cheap substitute. Peach gum can be used as food additive in Japan. Peach gum is better than Arabic gum in some characteristics, such as greater transparency and stickiness. In addition, peach gum is also widely used in chemical industry, cosmetics, printing and dyeing industries.